Fresh out of West Virginia University, Matthew Peaslee has been a Pirates fan for over two decades. While times have been hard, Peaslee remains a loyalist. He has been to 26 of the 30 MLB ballparks, but PNC Park has always been his summer home. With every slide there will be Pittsburgh Pride!

Reactions to Bixler

Who is Bixler? You ask. Well for one, he is an ex-Pirate and new member of the Cleveland Indians. Brian-his first name, has been dubbed one of the worst Buccos in the storied history of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club.

Bixler was swapped with Jesus Brito. Brito was a member of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, my hometown minor league team back in my city of Youngstown, OH. The Scrappers are a Single A affiliate of the Indians. I have been to a handful of Scrappers games this past year and greatly recall seeing Brito play. My ears perked up whenever he was announced, partially because his name sounds oddly similiar to a Mexican food dish, Burrito.

Brito, pictured to the right, is an intriguing fellow. He is just 22 and has spent two seasons in the Tribe’s farm system. Last season the Dominican Republic native batted .322 for Mahoning Valley, that is the fifth highest batting average among all minor leaguers for last season. Also interesting is that Jesus was born on Christmas Day, December 25th. I mean what else are you going to name a baby born on Christmas Day?

Even though he is light years from making the big league roster he definitely has shown potential to be a solid player. He has the ability to hit and get on base. His development will be crucial to his success.

Going back to my original statement, that Bixler is often regarded as one of the worst Pirate players in history. Honestly, it is true. In 68 major league games, the Sandusky, OH native owns just a .178 career batting average. Mario Mendoza, be happy. Bixler was often sought as the future shortstop to take over for Jack Wilson. Bixler never even came close to sniffing the dirt off Wilson’s cleats. . 475 OPS, .237 SLG, only 6 extra base hits and 62 strikeouts in 152 at bats are not major league numbers at all.

The fanfare from the trade of Bixler has resounded across online media since the trade was announced yesterday.

There has been some colorful comments left on the official facebook fan page of the Pirates. Usually littered with comments trashing the team left and right, fans came out of the wood work to express gratitude that Bixler will never don the black and gold again. Here is a sample of what has been posted:

“I liked bixler, until he forgot how to hit a baseball. Happy trails.”

“The Indians now have the worst player in baseball in their organization.”

“Bixler made Sammy Khalifa and Rey Quinones look pretty good”

“Thank goodness Bixler is gone!”

Pretty harsh huh? I can’t disagree though, it is well warranted. Bixler had every opprtunity to succeed and was handed opportunities to play. He failed, miserably, and rightfully showed he is not ready for a major league position.

My good friend, Jon Anderson from mceffect.com may have stated the best goodbye message to Bixler in his facebook status this morning.

Jon said: “woke up, remembered the Pirates traded Bixler yesterday… I think it’s going to be a good day.”

I got a good laugh out of that and will have to check on him later to see if his day went well.(Chances are, it did!)

This may have been the most landmark off-season deal the Bucs have made thus far. Yes they have added Bobby Crosby, Ryan Church and Akinori Iwamura. And the bullpen pieces are faling together. They signed veteran Brendan Donnelly to a one year deal and inked American League innings pitched leader DJ Carrasco. There are also talks of picking up the aging Octavio Dotel.

But this move brough Pirate fans together. The joy and happiness of seeing Bixler leave Pittsburgh gave something we have not had in quite sometime, hope. This is perhaps my favorite comment I have come across regarding the issue:

“Do you feel that? I haven’t felt it in a long time. You know what it is? Optimism. I like this club. I like where they are heading. In Neal We Trust!”

Optimism my friends, it is a good thing to have.

photo credits: mlb.com, milb.com, tcd.ie

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14 Comments

LOL. Well, i have heard of his bat, or lack of, but the Indians didn’t acquire him to be a starter, Thank God! He will be competing for the Utility role, but their are better options than him, so he isn’t a sure thing to make the team. I think Mark Grudzielanek is the favorite, but we have Donald and Rodriguez too. I think Mark or Donald win the spot. Please visit:http://clevelandbaseball.mlblogs.com/

Wow. Talk about “don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Sounds like everybody’s united in their enthusiasm over Bixler leaving. And you’re right – there are other reasons for Pirates fans to be optimistic. I don’t know that much about Church and Crosby, but I always liked Iwamura when he was on the Rays.

The Pirates’ fans are starting to feel optimistic which is fantastic…BUT after last season how should Cleveland fans be feeling now that they have acquired Pittsburgh’s worst player? I bet they aren’t overwhelmed with the feeling of optimism.

To be the worst Pirate in the history of the Pirates (considering their modern day hapless history) definitely ain’t somethin’ to write home about. Wowsers. The Scrappers though… now that’s somethin’ to write home about! What a name! Thanks for the edumacation, Matt!
–Jeffhttp://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/http://mtrredstatebluestate.com

I’ve never actually heard of Bixler, but I guess I probably wouldn’t want to. Glad he’s not some sabermetric, “moneyball” type player that appears to be bad but is good in some area that generates runs, or else the Red Sox would be up and fighting for him. Thank god!
Glad to see you guys get rid of him, and it appears you got some good talent out of it. Good luck with Brito!

Poor guy. To be regarded as the worst Pirate ever – pretty amazing feat, but in totally the wrong way. Maybe a change of scenery will do him some good. Hey, I just noticed I’m in your sidebar! Thanks!
SueRants, Raves, and Random Thoughts

I had actually heard of Bixler before. It does seem that one would need to work extra hard to be named the “Worst Pirate Ever”! But I am old enough to remember the last time the Pirates won the WS–and you got there before we Red Sox did! ;) File that under “On the Bright Side”… ;)
I’m keeping an eye on your Mountaineers, also, Matt! ;) Take care.

My A’s have had Crosby since he was a Rookie…so it was sad to see him go. He’s really good at SS, not a lot of errors (knock on wood), but his batting is ok. Hopefully he can pick up a few tips from your batting coaches, to help him get better.

I see we’re going to be playing you guys June 25-27th. Let’s hope for a good series.

Nice blog…and thanks for stopping by and commenting on mine, I responded to your comments over on my blog.

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